Residents seek reopening of BISP centre in Landikotal

LANDIKOTAL: The residents of Sadokhel in Khyber district on Sunday asked the authorities concerned to reopen the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) centre in their area to facilitate them at their doorstep

The residents, including Pervez Afridi and others, said that the BISP centre was the only facility serving a population of over 100,000, and its closure had now caused serious difficulties to local women.

They said the lone BISP office in the Khyber subdivision of Landikotal was shut down two weeks ago following a baseless complaint. They said that an inquiry was conducted and the complainant later withdrew his complaint after reconciliation but the Sadokhel centre remained closed.

They said due to the continued closure, women beneficiaries from the village now had to travel to BISP centres in neighbouring Shinwari localities miles away from their homes where overcrowding and long waiting hours were making their life miserable.

The residents said many women had expressed frustration over the inconvenience and hardships being faced in travelling to distant centres.They appealed to the director general of BISP and other senior officials to reopen the Sadokhel village centre to ease their difficulties and ensure uninterrupted access to welfare services.